Trump uses Kennedy Center visit to announce imminent release of JFK assassination files: Live updates
President attended first board meeting at performing arts venue before making announcement about release of 80,000 ‘unredacted’ pages from files on 1963 assassination of Kennedy
Donald Trump announced during a visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., that 80,000 pages of unredacted files related to the assassination of President John F Kennedy will be released tomorrow afternoon.
The president was at the performing arts venue, named after the slain president, to attend a board meeting.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people from the U.S. after invoking a wartime law to speed up the deportations of individuals connected to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in defiance of a court order.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s ability to use the law, the Alien Enemies Act 1798, and ordered any planes flying migrants out of the country to turn around.
Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News: “We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the left thinks. We’re coming.”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump declared that presidential pardons issued by his predecessor, Joe Biden, are “void, vacant, and of no further force or effect” because the Democrat allegedly signed off on them using an autopen rather than his real signature.
Fox News host swipes at GOP for railing against deportation order judge after praising him in past
Fox News host Trey Gowdy criticized Republicans on Monday for railing against a federal judge who issued a court order blocking the Trump administration from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th-century law, noting that conservatives had previously praised this same judge.
“So you can’t pick and choose what day you like a judge and what day you don’t!” Gowdy declared during a Fox News appearance.
Justin Baragona reports.
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Fox News host swipes at GOP for railing against federal judge they previously praised
As Trump prepares for Putin call, White House says peace deal close
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wouldn’t get into details about Tuesday’s scheduled call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But she sounded optimistic that the talks can help push Russia closer to a deal to end its three-year war in Ukraine.
“I won’t get ahead of those negotiations, but I can say we are on the 10th-yard line of peace,” Leavitt told reporters Monday. “And we’ve never been closer to a peace deal than we are in this moment. And the president, as you know, is determined to get one done.”
Deported Ivy League doctor Rasha Alawieh will remain in Lebanon
Brown Medicine’s Dr. Rasha Alawieh will remain in Lebanon, for now, while a federal judge hears arguments to determine whether Donald Trump’s administration intentionally defied a court order to halt her deportation.
District Judge Leo Sorokin ordered officials with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to court in Boston Monday to explain why the Ivy League doctor was deported last week, apparently in defiance of his court order.
Rhian Lubin and Alex Woodward report.
Trump administration deports Ivy League doctor Rasha Alawieh despite court order
Watch: White House insists compliance with deportation order after Homan comments
White House insists deported Venezuelans are designated foreign terrorists
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted at the White House press briefing today that the Venezuelans deported to El Salvador were designated as foreign terrorists.
“These are designated foreign terrorists. President Trump signed a proclamation on February 20, 2025, designating TDA as a foreign terrorist organization... The President has a right to do that, and I think nobody would argue that Tren de Aragua should be designated a foreign terrorist organization.”
Leavitt also told reporters that the Trump administration paid El Salvador $6 million to accept and detain the roughly 200 people flown there this weekend.
Asked what criteria were being used to determine whether those deported were members of the group, Leavitt said: “Intelligence.”
A French politician called for the return of the Statue of Liberty, the White House says: 'Absolutely not'
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt gave a firm no to a demand from a French politician that the U.S. should return the State of Liberty, which was gifted by France in the late 19th Century.
As a member of the European Parliament and co-president of a small left-wing party in France, Raphaël Glucksmann cannot claim to speak for all of his compatriots.
But his assertion in a speech this weekend that some Americans “have chosen to switch to the side of the tyrants” reflects the broad shockwaves President Trump’s seismic shifts in foreign and domestic policy are triggering in France and elsewhere in Europe.
Asked if President Donald Trump will agree with the request for the return of the iconic landmark, Leavitt replies: “Absolutely not. My advice to that unnamed low-level French politician is that it's only because of America that the French are not speaking German right now.”
With reporting from the AP
White House maintains it acted within law on deportations
The Trump administration claims that it acted within the confines of the law in using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang members.
Speaking at the White House briefing on Monday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “This Administration acted within the confines of the law ... and under the authority granted to him under the Alien Enemies Act. We are quite confident in that — and we are wholly confident that we are going to win this case in court.”
Watch that moment below:
UNLV professor killed in 2023 mass shooting is named as part of Trump’s DEI crackdown at colleges
A Las Vegas university professor who was killed in a mass shooting at the campus more than a year ago has been named by the Trump administration in a new investigation into Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in higher education.
Patricia Navarro-Velez, 39, was one of three people gunned down in a December 2023 mass killing on the school’s campus. A spokesperson for UNLV confirmed that she had been named as part of a federal investigation by the Department of Education.
Mike Bedigan explains.
UNLV professor killed in mass shooting is named as part of Trump’s DEI crackdown
Canadian PM Carney meets with King Charles of Canada
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